Disillusioned
by WhiteWisteria
Summary: It had been three years since 15 year old Natsume left the Academy to join the Anti alice organization while Mikan had undertaken a post with the Academy’s secret corps. When the two finally meet, it will be a clash of wills that would end everything…NM
1. Prologue: Snow Wolf 雪のオオカミ

**. Disillusioned . **

目をさまさせられる

**. Snowmirage .**

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**. Summary .**

**It had been three years since fifteen-year-old Natsume left the Academy to join the Anti-alice organization while Mikan had undertaken a post with the Academy's secret corps. When the two finally meet, it will be a clash of wills that would end everything…**

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_She waits alone in the snow,  
For he who never comes.  
Disillusioned, she waits no more,  
For him, who never came._

**Prologue: Snow Wolf **(雪のオオカミ)

Steady amber eyes looked back at her in the mirror.

Gone was the painful guile that used to linger in the candid amber eyes, making her appear younger than she was; gone also was the naïve sparkle in her eyes, even though she kept up her cheerful spirit as a facade.

There was a never before seen pain in her eyes, concealed to everyone but the closest of her friends, one that was put there by…him.

Hyuuga Natsume.

It had been three years since he walked out of her life and into the enemy's arms, yet Mikan could never forget him, even till now.

It had made her realise there was more to life than school, that reality was never the sugar-coated world of fairytales.

It made her grew up.

Mikan lifted her arms and tied up her free-flowing auburn tresses into a single ponytail before bundling it up in a bun, kept in place by a few discreetly placed pins.

She reached out for the bracelet laying on a nearby dresser, humming a soft song under her breath as she fixed it onto her wrist, the multicolored Alice stones attached jingling and clinking against each other as she did so.

The Alice stones, stones containing the Alices of others, were her only form of offensive moves seeing that her Nullifying Alice could do no more than be defensive.

Lastly, she reached for the mask that had become her identity for three years.

As she slipped on the mask etched with the features of a wolf over her face, she ceased to be Sakura Mikan.

She became the _Snow Wolf._

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**. Author's notes .**

**This is only a teaser, this will be a short-chaptered tragedy story that I plan to finish up before I continue on to Daffodil and the Prince & I...i will be updating this after 17 Nov (Gomen for the wait)...**

**Do tell me whether I should continue or not? **

**Review and make my day :')**


	2. Chapter I: Crimson eyes 深紅色の目

**. Disillusioned . **

目をさまさせられる

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_Sometimes she wonders,  
whether he is worth the tears she shed,  
of the love she gives  
Because, all she gets in return,  
is a broken heart and a love forgotten_

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**-**

**-**

-hottan-

-開始-

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**-**

**Chapter I:** Crimson eyes (深紅色の目)

"You are growing too soft, Natsume." The voice, slick as poison, flowed past Natsume's ears, echoing distortedly in the empty room.

Natsume froze.

It was a voice that had haunted his childhood, a voice that brought hate and fear into his heart, a voice that had taken away everything he had ever cared for.

A glint of a white semi-mask, black sweeping robes and a man swept into view, his white heels making a soft clicking sound against the ground.

_Persona. _

In his arms, a girl struggled against the iron-hold on her waist, her crimson eyes glazed over in terror.

"Onii-chan!" She cried out as she stretched out a pleading hand towards Natsume in a plea to help her.

"Aoi…" The name tumbled out, half-whispered, disbelief in his tone.

"Yukiaoi. Such a pretty name." A chilling smile edged its way onto Persona's face as he drew a fingernail down the girl's cheek, leaving a trail of blood to well in its path.

Natsume's eyes, hardened flints of garnet, flicked back with a vengeance to the man he had loathed for half of his life, the man who had taken everything from him.

"Let her go." He snarled out, a ball of flame leaping to life in his upturned palm, the flame flickering to a poisonous blue slowly.

If anything, Persona's smile widened.

"Punish me if you have to, _let her go_."

"I can't do that my dear Natsume." A short laugh.

"She is your punishment."

"You know what I have always said, Natsume." He whispered out, a cold smile edging on his lips. "_Everything around you dies_."

Natsume saw the glint of metal a split second before Persona plunged a small dagger into Aoi's small frame.

"NO!" The flames burst out of him in a fury of flames, searing everything in its path to ash.

But he was too late.

He was always too late.

She was already dead before the flames reached her and her murderer.

_Everything around you dies. _

_Everything. _

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Natsume tucked his hands in his pockets as he look upon the simple grave adorned with only a single white lily and bearing the single name carved deep into the sleek white marble surface: Yukiaoi.

He had failed her.

He had broken his promise to protect her with his life.

Because it was his beloved sister lying cold in the ground while he, the undeserving one, lived the life she was supposed to have.

Until now, he still couldn't get the sight of her terrified crimson eyes, so alike his, out of his head.

It haunted him, in his dreams and whenever he closed his eyes, until it was almost to the point of being unbearable.

Natsume shoved a hand roughly through his already wind-ruffled hair and forced himself to look away from the grave and focused instead on the lush floral surroundings the grave sat in.

The forest was quiet, elongated shadows stretching across the leaf-covered grounds as the sun dipped down to its hiding place to give way to the night sky, filled only with the occasional chatter of the insects and cries of the birds perched upon the trees.

The forest was part of the expense of land the Anti-alice head-quarters, disguised as a homestead, sat on.

It was here, in this place of disguised peace that Natsume had laid Aoi to rest.

And it was here Natsume would destroy the very academy that had killed Aoi and made his life a living hell.

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The moon hung like a mocking yellow Cheshire cat's smile in the velvet skies, the soft glow lending light to the two figures in black crouched at the top of the academy's building.

With silence as their only companion, they waited patiently, their breaths misting in the cold air like puffs of fog; the moonlight glinted off the white mask of one of the figures almost like a beacon in the night.

Mikan fidgeted slightly in the position she had been for an hour as she waited for their client, or rather a personnel they were suppose to protect, to finish up his business with the school.

He was already half an hour over time and Mikan was hungry from having missed her dinner.

She pouted slightly as her stomach let out a hungry growl of protest.

Beside her, her partner Hiroshi, a dangerous ability student with the barrier alice, prod her with a hissed, "Be still."

It had been hate at first sight for the two unlikely partners at first, with Mikan thinking that Hiroshi was an arrogant, stuck-up guy with nothing better to do than to irritate her and Hiroshi thinking she was stuck with a slow-witted, useless klutz with a nullifying alice.

Slowly, they had come to respect each other and found a friend in the unlikeliest of foes, even though Hiroshi still annoyed her from time to time with his remarks.

A faint crackling sound in her ear made her sit up and she pressed the earpiece closer, tapping Hiroshi on the shoulder to alert him.

"Be ready to go." Hotaru's soft voice came over the piece.

Hotaru had joined Mikan in the academy's Secret Corps and but she worked behind the scenes together with Ruka, whose ability to use animals as spies aided a lot in many missions.

Even though the two clash most of the time, one has to admit that they work well as a pair. Even Mikan, dense as she may be sometimes, agreed.

Mikan stood up silently, taking a moment to stretch her limbs, stiff from hours of keeping still. Her bracelet tinkled lightly as the stones knocked into each other haphazardly with the movement.

Hiroshi, taking a cue from her, stood up also.

They watched attentively as the double doors of the building below opened, spilling yellow light onto the dark asphalt driveway where the black limo was waiting.

Three figures stepped out, one of them the client Mikan and Shin were supposed to protect.

"Lets go,"

The soft words hung in the air as two shadowy figures disappeared from the top of the building, appearing seconds later next to the man silently.

Fye-Sensei , the newly appointed head of the academy's Secret Corps after Persona's demise, gestured to them discreetly as he murmured something to the client, a portly man in his fourties.

The man spared them a glance, nodding his thanks at Fye-sensei before he got into the sleek black limo.

The headlights of the limo lit up the dark path with an eerie glow, a soft purr sounding as the car started up, making its way out of the academy gates like a sleek dolphin underwater.

"Go." With the single word from Fye-sensei, Mikan and Hiroshi moved off, following close to the black limo as they moved swiftly from tree branch to branch of the trees near the road.

Their job was to follow the man back to his estate and to make sure that he was safe and sound, and also to deflect any attack from the Anti-alice organization.

Mikan pushed away a protruding branch out of her face as she moved stealthily, her eyes roaming the area from any signs of amiss.

Beside her, Hiroshi was emitting off a soft undercurrent of power. Mikan knew he was protecting the moving limo with his barrier alice, creating a light barrier around the exterior of the car that would deflect most alice attacks.

They didn't have to wait long.

The first attack came swiftly, a blur of white as the column of ice crashed towards the limo head on with deadly intent.

A shimmer of pale green fell into the path of the blow, forming a translucent wall between the attack and its intended victims.

Ice splinters shot off the wall as the ice shattered upon contact with Hiroshi's barrier.

The limo skidded to a stop with a screech of tires, with Hiroshi landing catlike onto the car's top as a he conjured up a light barrier around the car.

With Hiroshi guarding the client, Mikan leapt off the branch she had been crouched on into the path of the light from the headlights of the limo, bathing her in a yellow light.

A figure walked out a few meters from amongst the foliage off the trees lining the road, almost swaggering. A simple black semi-mask covered the upper half of his face, shielding his identity from Mikan.

"Well, well, if it isn't the Snow Wolf, the latest underdog of the Academy." A smirk showed, the sneering voice ringing along the empty stretch of road.

"Move away, mutt. I _might _spare your life."

Without warning, he lifted his hand and a barrage of icicles speared through the air towards her with alarming alacrity.

Caught off guard, Mikan barely managed to shift out of the way of the incoming icicles. Even so, one of it managed to nick her on her arm, leaving a long gash.

Cradling the arm, Mikan activated the healing alice stone, holding her palm over the wound.

One of the alice stones on her bracelet glowed green and slowly, the gash begun to close until there wasn't a scar left.

Almost immediately, the vibrant green of the stone turned dim.

Alice stones can only be used three to four times before the alice energy stored in them ran out and it was hard to get replacements.

" Alice stones?" There was considerable surprise in his tone now before the smirk edged over. "Is your alice that weak?" the taunt in his voice was unmistakable.

Mikan ignored him.

A quick scan of her bracelet showed her that she was left with the ice alice, shield alice, plant alice and water alice. Strong alices, but against a Ice alice user, it wasn't really useful.

Unless…

Mikan's eyes narrowed behind her mask as she blocked yet another attack.

The plant alice enables her to control any sort of plant at her will. If she could get him near to where she wanted him to…

She spied the innocent looking tree sprout lined up at the side as she pivoted and felt her feet connect with the side of the guy's face.

A string of curses fell from his lips as he fell away, a bruise forming on his cheeks, blooming a dark purple in the moonlight.

Perfect.

A smile curved her lips.

Almost immediately, a brown stone glowed on her bracelet.

With whiplash speed, the branches seemingly grew a life of their own and shot out from both sides to wrap themselves around the torso and hands of the surprised boy, forming a complex spider web like prison.

Bind by the thick wood branches, he could barely move and he struggled vehemently to no avail.

"What the hell?" the furious cry fell from his lips as he leveled a poisonous glare at Mikan, who was slowly approaching.

She simply reached a hand towards him, intending to paralysis so that she would be able to take him back to the academy for questioning.

"_Snow!_" The warning call from Hiroshi came too late.

The fire seared across her vision, the heat scorching as it passed within scant inches from her face, obstructing her view of the trapped boy.

The fire seared across her vision, the heat scorching as it passed within scant inches from her face, obstructing her view of the trapped boy.

_Natsume? _

Disorientated, Mikan's mind cried out at the familiar sight of the flames, a trademark of the person she had loved and lost so many years ago.

Through the flames, she caught sight of someone burning the binds that held her prisoner easily before moving off into the distance.

But not before she heard the soft click of a gun and a sharp pain went through her thigh.

Pressing a hand to the wound to stem the bleeding, she lashed out her nullifying alice, putting out the flames with a effort, but they were gone.

All that was left were the scorched branches and an empty stretch of road.

"Natsume…" She barely managed out the name before she collapsed to the ground.

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**A/n: I changed the last part of this chapter to fit in with the next scene..gomen ne!**

**Gomen about this chapter because it is the first time I am working with fighting scenes! I know it is horrible and...raw. So gomen!**

**Read and reivew onegai? Thank you with a Natsume on top!**


	3. Chapter II: Him and Her 他与她

--**please refer back to the last few lines of chapter I (previous chapter) for amendments. Gomen--**

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**-**

**-**

**. Disillusioned . **

目をさまさせられる

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_Fate was never kind to those  
__who believe and love._

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_-_

_-_

_-_

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**Chapter II:** Him and Her ( 他与她)

There had been a fire that day, the flames licking high into the grey skies above as the middle branch burned with a vengeance.

Mikan had watched along with the rest of the middle branch, fascinated in part horror at the cruel beauty of the fire that was burning and the thoughtless destruction it left behind.

From the midst of the flames he had walked out, carrying a limp body in his arms, unharmed by the flames that were part of him.

He did not say a word, and for once she kept her silence, because from the raw pain and fury in his crimson eyes, she knew that the girl who lay so peacefully in his arms must have been very important to him.

He had walked past them, his crimson eyes unseeing; his gait slightly unsteady.

It was almost as though he never saw them; that they didn't exist.

When Ruka tried to reach him, he shoved the blond aside with a callousness that was uncharacteristic of him and simply continued walking on.

No one stopped him as he walked out of the academy, the academy he had hated so much, and out of Mikan's life forever.

It would be the last time they saw him.

Later, Mikan found out from Ruka that the girl Natsume was cradling in his arms was Hyuuga Yukiaoi, Natsume's younger sister and also the reason Natsume had entered the academy in the first place. Persona had used Aoi as hostage in order to keep Natsume from rebelling against the academy.

They found Persona's body in the burning building, his white mask, charred by the flames a few feet away, not killed by the flames, but by his very own alice.

It appeared that the flames, while not fierce enough to char the Dangerous Ability teacher, had melted off his alice limiters, objects that restricted his alice from turning onto their owner.

It had been a horrendous sight; the image of Persona's decomposing body remained the object of Mikan's nightmares for many months to come.

Even now, whenever Mikan closed her eyes, she could see the slightly shocked expression on the face, as though he hadn't expected to die so suddenly.

Even though Mikan knew he had been the source of Natsume's misery in the Academy, she couldn't help but feel…pity for him.

But it had been the death of the small girl that had been Natsume's sister that everyone mourned for, even though no one had really known her. But for those who knew Natsume, it was enough for them.

They had created a small monument for Yukiaoi in a corner of the Northern Forests, in a small clearing near Mr. Bear's cottage, a simple marble slab bearing only her name on the top of the tiny hill.

Mikan visited it everyday, lying down fresh strawberries at the foot of the grave and simply spent time sitting there on the soft carpet grass, with the wind and sound of animals for company.

She set down the bowl of strawberries at the foot of Yukiaoi's grave, a soft clink sounding as the ceramic of the bowl brushed lightly against the marble slab.

With a sigh, she sat down onto the grass, wincing seconds later when her bandaged thigh protested with a shot of pain.

The bullet had penetrated deep enough to hit her bone, and even though she didn't murmur so much as a cry of pain, it hurt like hell. Luckily for her, Imai senpai was able to counteract the poison in it.

Not that she was going to say anything to Hiroshi, who would laugh at her and call her a baby.

The pain wasn't the only thing bugging her these days.

Her thoughts inevitably swim to a familiar person, bringing back a twinge of pain in her heart.

Natsume.

Had it been him that night?

He had haunted her dreams since the day he left, with his crimson eyes that seemed to be ablaze with life, his smirking insults.

He had always been so alone that Mikan's heart ached for him. And now, she wondered whether he was alone…just like he had been for so many years.

"Mikan."

Startled, she jerked around to find Ruka, a spray of lilies in his arms, a small questioning smile on his face.

"Hey Ruka-pyon." Mikan smiled, her amber eyes following Ruka's movements as he laid the lilies down beside the bowl of strawberries.

Straightening up, Ruka fixed her with a worried gaze. "Are you sure you are alright? Imai-senpai-"

"Said I am fine." Mikan piped in with a reassuring smile, "Just a superficial wound and some rest would be good." She gestured to her bandaged thigh.

Ruka nodded, and sat down beside her.

"What were you thinking about?" He asked suddenly, slanting a speculative look at her.

"Natsume…" She breathed out the name with a sigh.

One of Ruka's eyebrows shot up until it disappeared into the messy bangs that covered his forehead.

"I heard…about that night. The flames that you saw." He continued carefully, moving his gaze until it was fixed on a point far away.

"I thought…no, had hoped that it was Natsume." Mikan confessed in a soft whisper, "That he was coming back to us."

Ruka never said a word, simply continued staring ahead but mixed emotions splashed across his face.

Mikan knew that out of them all, Ruka was probably hurting the most.

Natsume had been part of most of his life and it couldn't have been easy losing one's best friend.

"It doesn't matter," Ruka suddenly spoke up, his brilliant azure gaze turning back to hers. "As long as we remember him, it doesn't matter."

It brought a smile to Mikan's lips and she let out a small gurgle of laughter.

Trust Ruka-pyon to make everything seemed okay again.

She flung her arms around the startled boy, eliciting a deep blush out of the blond.

"Mi-mikan!" He stuttered out, turning board-stiff in her arms, his face a flaming red by now..

Mikan chocked back a giggle.

Some things never changed, just like how shy the blond was.

Pitying him, she released him.

For a while, they sat in silence, simply enjoying the wind and each other's company.

"If I ever die, I want to be buried under the sakura tree. " Mikan said suddenly, smiling softly, her eyes taking on a dreamy look.

The sakura tree was the same tree she and Natsume had shared so many moments of annoying each other and enjoying each other's company.

"Mikan?" Ruka's voice was slightly questioning and worried.

Mikan giggled slightly. She knew what Ruka must be thinking.

They had been so careful around her ever since Natsume left; it seemed everyone knew about her feelings for the crimson eyed boy who had found his way to her heart with an insult.

It had been mortifying really because she hadn't really thought she was _that _obvious.

"Ruka-pyon, don't worry. It is just a thought." She hastened to reassure the blond, her amber eyes twinkling in amusement.

Ruka nodded, relief showing in his azure eyes.

"Besides, Hotaru would kill me." Mikan added on, shuddering slightly as she thought of it.

"No. She would probably use the Baka Gun to shoot you senseless before killing you." Ruka corrected with small smile on his face as both their thoughts turned to a certain assertive violet-eyes female.

"Gomen Ruka-pyon." Mikan sighed out softly. "For making you and Hotaru worry."

Ruka smiled as he shook his head slightly. "As long as you are safe, there is nothing you should be sorry for."

A heartfelt smile formed on Mikan lips and she whispered out," Thanks Ruka-pyon."

Ruka got up with a sigh, dusting off the stray leaves and dirt that clung to his pants. "I was supposed to inform you of the meeting they are having later. Same time, same place."

"Hai." Mikan beamed at the blond before he made his way down the slope, a sparrow flying down to perch on his shoulder as he did so, its high-pitched chirps ringing through the air.

She waited until Ruka was out of sight before letting out a small sigh, propping her chin up on her knees, tilting her head to look at the grave as she did so. At the familiar name engraved there.

"I wished I could have known you." She whispered softly, her voice carrying in the wind. "Because…Natsume loved you."

_Just like I loved him. _

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Natsume slouched down in the chair, his steely crimson eyes fixed on the boy standing in front of him.

"What were my orders?" He asked coldly, crimson eyes narrowing as the boy glared at him unhappily.

"To wait for you." He finally mumbled out grudgingly.

"Did you think you could have taken on them?" His words were harsh now, spat out as he straightened.

The boy remained silent, his grey eyes unrepentant.

Natsume scrapped a disdainful look at the boy before he lifted those eyes to the blue sky outside, a cynical smile on his face.

"Tonight there will be no botch ups." It was a command rather than a question, his tone glacier cold. "Do you get me?"

"Yes."

Tonight. Tonight he will destroy Alice Academy.

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Mikan pushed open the double doors that led to the meeting room for the secret corps.

Around the lone long table that occupied the spacious room, people lounged on chairs, chatting in low tones or simply sitting around as they waited for the meeting to begin.

She spotted Hiroshi seated near one end of the table, twirling his dark blue mask absently in his hand, feet propped up on the polished surface of the table.

She moved towards him, smiling greetings to acquaintances as she passed.

Reaching him, she dragged out the empty chair next to his and sat down, swatting at his feet as she did so.

"'kay already?" He asked, one brow rising in question as he flicked a glance at her bandaged thigh.

"Uhmm." Mikan hummed out a yes, shoving his hand away half-heartedly as it came to twine her hair around his finger absently.

The doors pushed open to admit Fye-sensei, who was carrying a tottering pile of paper.

Almost immediately, the chatter in the room died down to the scrapping of the chairs against the parquet floor as people readied themselves for the meeting.

With giant strides, he crossed the room to the end of the table where Mikan and Hiroshi were before placing the papers down with a loud 'thud' on the table, missing Hiroshi's feet by inches.

Peering owlishly at them over his glasses, which had slipped down the bridge of his nose on his journey thus, he announced quietly in a deep, commanding tone.

"We have received news that the Anti-alice organization is planning an attack tonight on the academy."

Mikan sat up, amber eyes attentive.

"We will be situating every one of you around the critical areas of the school," Fye-sensei started passing out the papers, which turned out to be maps of the school with labels of their names attached to different places.

"Be careful." He said, ice-blue eyes flicking over everyone present," Understood?"

"Hai." The chorus came as one.

"Dismissed."

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Dark maroon skies hung in the air, the heavy smell of rain hung in the air.

The moon peeked through occasionally from the clouds, shedding light occasionally onto the figure standing alone in front of the gate of the Alice Academy.

The white mask was startling in the gloomy surroundings as she waited for anyone to turn up.

He came in a rustle of leaves, landing softly on his feet a few meters away from her.

A black mask covered his whole face, leaving slits for eyes.

There was something about his stance, that careless slouch that reminded her horribly of Natsume, but she pushed it away.

She had one job; that is to protect the academy at any cost.

He came at her with a swift kick aimed at her shins, a blur of movement in the moonlight.

Mikan barely managed to avoid the kick, his feet passing inches from her feet with a swipe of wind, landing a few feet away.

Relentless, he came at her again, this time with a ball of flame in his hand that he flung at her.

Quickly, she used her nullifying alice and the flames extinguished before it could reach her.

Ghost fire surrounded her, surrounding her in as he moved towards her in a blur of movement.

_Fire? _She thought frantically as she blocked his glancing blows, wincing as two of them landed on her shoulder. _Is he Natsume?_

She whipped out a punch, her knuckles came in contact with something hard.

His mask.

She heard a clatter as the mask fell away even as she backed away, gingerly testing her sore shoulder.

She barely had time to react before he came at her again; she shifted away, not fast enough, for the blow hit her on the shoulder and she heard a crack of bones breaking before a sharp pain screamed through her shoulder.

She kicked at him, heard him move away before coming at her again.

She looked up, and found her self staring into crimson eyes.

_Natsume. _

"No…"She whispered out, too shock to do anything but to simply stand there motionless as he came at her, his familiar face bringing a pain beyond comparison to her heart.

She never felt the deadly blow that came in connect with her, only saw the widening of his crimson eyes as a single word tumbled from her lips.

"Natsume…"

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Everything seemed to slow in its entity; he watched as the body flew backwards, caught by the power of his glancing blow, as strands of auburn hair tumbled out from the bun they were held in.

_No. _His mind seemed to whisper in desperation as the mask fell away to reveal a face he never thought to see again, a face that had haunted his very dreams from the day they had met.

Eyes of amber, intoxicating as age-old brandy held his.

_Mikan. _

He darted forward and caught her as she fell limply like a broken doll, a heavy weight in his arms.

The snow white mask that had concealed her identity from him clattered onto the asphalt floor, the smooth surface gleaming in the pale moonlight, almost mocking in its entity.

A small trail of blood trickled from the edge of her mouth and she coughed painfully, a deep rasping sound that came from deep within.

Desperately, he pulled at a thin silver chain around his neck until a small glowing moss green stone came into sight.

He pressed it against her cold skin, the cool surface of the stone glowed an eerie green in the dark surroundings, ignoring the twinge of pain as his body protested against the additional stress activating the healing alice stone was giving to his already weakened body.

But he knew it was too late.

The blood was gushing out from the gaping wound too fast, and her face was slowly turning a pasty grey.

The blow he dealt had been an intent to kill, and kill it did.

She let out a dry cough, a hollow sound that sounded almost like the death's rattle.

He tightened his grip around her, willing her not to give up fighting for her life, not to die to leave him alone.

"Don't go." His words, a harsh whisper, hung in the still air.

His grasp tightened onto hers until his knuckles turned white.

She lifted her eyelids with tremendous effort, her candid amber orbs looking at him even as a smile formed on her blood-stained lips.

"Everyone has to go Natsume." She got out, her voice a reedy whisper. "I am not afraid of dying, because Narumi-sensei said that heaven is a beautiful place."

A solitary tear, slipped down unbidden from the corner of his eyes, glinted in the moonlight as it splashed onto Mikan's cheek.

"Don't cry," She whispered out softly, her amber eyes searching his worriedly, her hand lifting in a feeble attempt to sooth him as she caressed his cheekbone in feather light motions.

"I am not." He whispered out, a plain lie for another found its way to her face.

"You are." She countered softly, a small smile on her lips.

"I think…I am going to…sleep." She whispered out, her lashes forming dark fans against her pale skin.

Natsume tightened his grip on her clammy hand before releasing it.

He reached out to smooth his hand over her brow in a stroking gesture and even though it pained him like a thousand needles to his heart, he whispered out softly," Sleep then."

_Because Natsume, to love something you have to learn to let go. _

Mikan's voice five years ago on a random day she had been annoying him came back, clear and full of life.

It had made him look at her incredulously, because he hadn't known she had it in her to say such things.

_Hotaru told me. _

She had continued with a guileless smile, making him smirk as everything came clear.

Now, he understood, unwilling as he was to do it.

_To love something is to let it go. _

Almost as though she could hear his thoughts, she smiled, quietly resting her head against his chest as she struggled to breathe.

She let out her last breath, a soft whisper that danced in the chilly night air and her hand fell limp in his grasp.

Then, she was gone.

When the rain finally came, tiny droplets that fell tentatively first before they turned into pelting droplets that ricocheted off the ground, Natsume let his tears mingle with the rain and let himself go.

To where she was waiting for him, to where all their troubles will be gone.

To where they could be together, forever and ever.

_Neh Natsume-kun, lets be together forever and ever? _

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**A/n: For those of you wondering why Natsume died the way he did, it was due to his already weakened body. Natsume's alice is the kind to shorten one's life span. Hmmm...if you do have any questions, just give me a holler via a review or PM okay?**

**Who said this is over? Nah, there is still a epilogue :D**

**Meanwhile, review onegai :)**


	4. Words in the Wind 風の語

**--dedicated to **Dear Julie, **who seem to like this story a lot, and also to **littledoggy **as a present from me to you :')--**

**--corrections done in the story are attributed to littledoggy who was a wonderful beta-reader for this chapter--**

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**. Disillusioned . **

目をさまさせられる

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_There are words in the winds,  
__That cries of the sorrows of the people,  
__Of love lost and found,  
__Of happily ever afters._

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**Epilogue**: Words in the Wind (風の語)

They buried them together beneath the sakura tree side by side, just as Mikan had wanted.

They kept the masks out of the graves in respect; because they knew deep down that it had been the anonymity of the masks that had killed both her and him.

There were tears from those who knew the bubbly girl who extended her hand in friendship to everyone she knew.

There were also smiles together with the tears, because they knew she was finally reunited with him.

And that, for Mikan, would have been more than she could ask for.

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**Three years later…**

Hotaru sat on a cushioned window-seat, the swish of the waves crashing against the rocks as her sole companion.

She listened quietly to the soft whisper of the wind that brought in the soothing smell of the sea and lifted the ends of her now shoulder-length violet hair effortlessly.

Occasionally, she would reached up to pushed her wayward hair behind her ear, the other hand reaching down to stroke her growing stomach with a gentle smile on her face.

She wondered what Mikan would have said if she was able to see her friend as such: mellowed, married and with child.

She probably would have squealed and tried to hug her, Hotaru reminisced with a small smile. What she would give to feel those arms around her again, to hear that excited chatter, to see that brilliant smile just once more.

But Mikan was gone, and no invention would be able to bring her back to life.

So Hotaru lived and remembered her best friend who had been a bright beacon in the lives of those she had known.

A year after Mikan's and Natsume's deaths, the Anti-Alice organization was broken up after a sudden attack by the Secret Corps, instigated by the deaths of Mikan and Natsume.

Ruka had proposed to Hotaru soon after, dropping down on his knees in front of a very surprised Hotaru and she had accepted…after letting him sweat for a while by keeping silent, a glint in her violet eyes.

And now…life was certainly different and quieter without the bubbly brunette around, but it went on just like it did everyday.

"Hotaru?" Hotaru blinked slightly at the interruption as Ruka's deep baritone broke through her stupor. She twisted slightly in her seat to find Ruka walking towards her, his azure eyes questioning.

"What are you doing?" Ruka asked gently as he took a seat behind his wife, his hand automatically covering hers over her stomach.

"Thinking…about Mikan." Hotaru replied quietly as she leaned back into her husband's embrace.

There was silence from the blond for a while as he gazed out of the window into the open sea that glimmered as though it was on fire in the wake of the setting sun.

"She is happy." He said finally, his chin coming to rest gently on top of Hotaru's head. His fingers intertwined with hers as he continued, a smile gracing his handsome features. "After all, Natsume is with her."

Hotaru simply nodded and closed her eyes, but a small smile graced the corners of her mouth.

Yes, Mikan would be happy. There had been a happy smile on her face the day they had found her entwined in Natsume's arms, a smile that had not appeared since his disappearance.

"What about our baby's name?" She asked suddenly, eyelids fluttering open.

Otonashi had predicted their baby would be a girl, much to the delight of Ruka and displeasure of Sumire, who had wanted to engage her year-old daughter to their child. Hotaru couldn't really say that she was disappointed that Sumire's plan had failed.

"What about 'Mikan'?" Ruka suggested with a hint of a smile in his tone, his azure eyes twinkling.

Hotaru's smile widened.

"And maybe, when she grows up, she will find her Natsume."

_Just like her. _

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_Neh Natsume?_

_Nani?_

_I have a secret to tell you._

_Hn. Not interested._

_Hmph! I am going to tell you anyway! _

_Because…I think…I love you._

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**--owari--**

--端--

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**A/n: **

**I finished another story lol.. :D**

**Thanks for reading :D I hoped you guys will like it enough to review :)**

**Review please? Thanks :')**


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